TRACE

International Day of Forests 🌳

Thank you to everyone who visited the TRACE table at El Portal de El Yunque on March 28th in celebration of the International Day of Forests. It's always a great opportunity to share updates from the project and meet with new and familiar faces.

Special thanks to for always setting up such an amazing activity! 💚

Ever wondered how deep is the litter layer inside the TRACE plots?

Well, this year you might find out! Since July 2025, we have been measuring the depth of the litter layer in all six plots, 3 control and 3 warmed, as part of our ongoing Decomposition Experiment.

Every three months, we take 5 randomized depth measurements inside the plots, down to the soil layer, and additionally remove the litter material from two quadrants of 20 x 20 cm for weight and nutrient analyses.

Picture 1: View of litter layer depth.
Picture 2: View of quadrant after removal of litter material.

Found this Broad-nosed Weevil hiding in a syringe! 😍

For point lysimeter sampling, we leave syringes out in the field overnight, to collect the water in between soil pores. It must've snuck in there.

Adriana T. González Álvarez
Undergraduate student

🏫Adriana is a senior student pursuing a bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She is carrying out undergraduate thesis work under the mentorship of Research Ecologist Dr. Tana Wood and Ph.D. candidate Ana Caroline Miron Pereira from the University of Hamburg, Germany.

🌱During her time in the TRACE project, Adriana has been analyzing root images collected through the minirhizotron tubes in the Control and Warmed plots to study how experimental warming affects fungal rhizomorph dynamics.

🎨Adriana enjoys working in the forest, especially if it’s related to soils or roots, and in her free time, she likes doing arts and crafts!

JOB OPPORTUNITY

Position: Information Manager with the Luquillo LTER
See photos for more details.